


James was loud all of the time.

by Cockbite (personalized_radio)



Series: Assassinations and Feelings [6]
Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Fake Chop Au, M/M, NovaHD - Freeform, This is the one where they 'go canon' i suppose u could say!, creatures!era i guess??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 12:46:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11104857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/personalized_radio/pseuds/Cockbite
Summary: It was one of the things Aleks liked most about him, for all that he pretended to hate it. Aleks lost himself in his head sometimes - he was used to needing to be silent; muscle at Jordan or Sly’s shoulder that didn’t talk much but had a pretty intimidating gun. James forced him to stay in the now lest he somehow get them into a shoot-out while Aleks was contemplating his life or what the fuck ever he did when he wasn’t in his body. Sly let Aleks stew, knew when to give him space and when to push - James didn’t do either of those. He never asked questions about Aleks’ past or what he was doing but he never gave Aleks space either; forcing him to play games or go out to eat or go on runs or shake-downs with him. Even when they were in silence, just sitting together or one of them at the other’s apartment, James was loud in the way he was quiet.James wasn’t loud right now, though.





	James was loud all of the time.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u guys like this.......in explanation for why theyre both a lot more emotionally open, just remember that they're both much younger, kind of rattled bc of multiple near death experiences, and im only human and cant resist mushing it up a little im SORRY OKAY
> 
> you can find me at [on Tumblr](https://cockbite.tumblr.com/) if you'd like! I post fake/gta!au stuff :)

James was loud all of the time.

It was one of the things Aleks liked most about him, for all that he pretended to hate it. Aleks lost himself in his head sometimes - he was used to needing to be silent; muscle at Jordan or Sly’s shoulder that didn’t talk much but had a pretty intimidating gun. James forced him to stay in the now lest he somehow get them into a shoot-out while Aleks was contemplating his life or what the fuck ever he did when he wasn’t in his body. Sly let Aleks stew, knew when to give him space and when to push - James didn’t do either of those. He never asked questions about Aleks’ past or what he was doing but he never gave Aleks _space_ either; forcing him to play games or go out to eat or go on runs or shake-downs with him. Even when they were in silence, just sitting together or one of them at the other’s apartment, James was _loud_ in the way he was quiet.

James wasn’t loud right now, though.

Nearly passed out in the passenger seat, blood staining through his gray t-shirt and the wound on his head still leaking enough red to cause some major fucking concern, James hadn’t uttered a word since Sly had got him into the car and Aleks had floored it.

“Nova,” Aleks reached over, not taking his eyes off the road, and nudged at his shoulder carefully, “James, stay the fuck awake.”

“Fuck off,” James grunted, not lifting his head out of the hand he was holding it in, the elbow resting against the window and a pained look on his face. The left leg of his jeans had been rolled up when Sly had taken a few seconds to check the damage and neither of them had bothered to roll it back down, so James’ fucked up ankle was on full display, gingerly balanced across his other leg and already swollen far past what Aleks considered acceptable levels of swelling, not to mention the blood smeared across his skin from an assortment of nicks and cuts. His shoe was gonna be a casualty when Seamus got to it, that was for sure.

“Seamus is at the safe house,” Aleks said, just to fill the silence. It was dark and raining, he really should have just appreciated the quiet but it was _James_ and he couldn’t. “Just...stay alive until then, asshole.”

“My head is literally splitting open right now and I’m fifty-fifty on whether or not my ankle snapped,” James groaned, “Just fuckin’ kick me into a gutter and let me die at this point,”

“Don’t tempt me,” Aleks joked, but his voice shook and his mind was racing. They’d been separated from Sly and the others, but that wasn’t unusual when things went wrong; the Hub had more successes than failures by far, but none of them were strangers to shit like this happening. It was just...this was the first time it had happened to _James_ since Aleks and Sly had joined.

James cracked an eye open, dark and pained but fully aware and _alive_ , and scoffed at him, “I was kidding. Don’t write me off yet, motherfucker,”

“Like I care,” Aleks shot back, but he didn’t feel quite like he was choking back panic anymore.

He didn’t try to break the silence again, just let James rest or whatever he needed to do, and focused on his job. He’d escaped the warehouse without being followed and with James in hand, that had been the most important thing, and now he just needed to get them both to the safe house. Seamus would be there, ready to make sure James didn’t fucking die, and then the three of them would be hanging out for a night or two, until Jordan and Dan could call in some favors and get the cops off their tail.

The safe house was a studio apartment located above a rundown tattoo parlor in a part of town not bad but not good either. The alley between it and the right neighboring building was barely wide enough for someone to stand in it but, when Aleks drove by, he could see a fire escape peeking out from the back - two escape routes, then; the ladder and jumping across to the next building over and hoping that you were fast enough to run. Three, if they had a way to get to the roof of the building on the left of the place, higher than the apartment but maybe not by much if you had help.

Aleks pulled the car around back, where a sea of cars had loaded into a parking lot but ignored that in favor of pulling up to the back door of the apartment, pulling his phone out to dial Seamus up.

“I see you,” Seamus said instead if _hi_ so Aleks hung up without saying anything back and put the car in neutral.

“I don’t need fuckin’ help,” James started but Aleks cut him off.

“Don’t be a dick about this, Nova, just shut up and let us get you inside.” He warned and then got out of the car just as Seamus opened the door and stepped outside, umbrella in hand and his usual bland expression in place.

The rain was freezing when it touched him, instantly soaking his hair and clothes. A crack of thunder nearly had him jumping and pulling the gun from his waistband in preparation for an attack.

“Just rain,” Seamus called, having made his way over while Aleks was trying to have a shootout with droplets of water.

He let go of his gun, slowly, and then hurried to the other side of the car so he would get there before James decided he was gonna try to walk on his own again - the fuck could barely put one foot in front of the other on a good day, let alone now that one foot was useless - and met Seamus there, stepping under the umbrella to get out of the rain.

“I take it this means you’re not gonna help.”  
“I’ll supervise,” Seamus smiled and it was the same understated smile he wore when he was trying to be comforting so Aleks let it go without arguing and opened the passenger door - only to immediately end up catching James when he tumbled out limply.

“ _Shit_ ,” He seethed, pushing against the dead weight against his arms and shoulder until James was upright, groggy and angry as ever.

“I thought you didn’t need help,” Aleks got out, huffing and just shook his head when James gave him the bird instead of saying anything.

It took some doing but Seamus keeping the rain off helped and James wasn’t _trying_ to be useless - he wanted medical attention just as much as Aleks’ wanted him to have it - and Aleks managed to wrestle him out of the car and get his arm wrapped around James’s waist, supporting him inside.

The narrow flight of stairs leading to the apartment were a...challenge, but James used Aleks as a crutch and Aleks supported him as best he could, Seamus a steady hand on their backs, and they were both panting by the time they made it up but they were _up_ and finally in the fucking safe house.

“What part of _James has a fucked up leg_ meant _two story house with stairs_?” He snapped once James had collapsed onto the couch, head lulling and short hair sticky and matted with blood.

“It was the closest we had. What happened?” Seamus waved him away, kneeling down to inspect James’ foot. James flinched, hissing in pain, and Seamus gentled his touch, apologetic even as he was firm in his inspection.

“There was a grenade,” Aleks looked at his hands, now stained with James’ blood, and wiped them on his pants in an attempt to clean them off, “I think the client had a rival they didn’t bother to mention and we got stuck in some sort of fucking surprise attack during the deal. Nova was closest to the blast but no one else got hurt as far as I know.”

“That sucks,” Seamus finished off a drink he’d apparently been having before they showed up and then pulled out a pair of gloves from his pocket and snapped them on, walking over to his small stack of casting and medical supplies, “You gonna help me out here?”  
“I need to ditch the car.” Aleks said, mostly because he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle watching Seamus sew up James’ head if that was needed.

He moved to leave but James cracked his eyes open again, pointing with the hand that wasn’t holding his head and Aleks pretended not to notice how hard it shook, “Be fuckin’ careful.”

“I will,” Aleks forced a smile, “Let Seamus doctor you up, okay?”

James dropped his hand and Aleks left before he said anything else.

The car was still idling, the passenger door open, seat soaked, from when Aleks hadn’t had the free hand to close it and Seamus had been more concerned with keeping James from the rain so he slammed that shut before he got back in on his side and left the parking lot slowly. He kept a careful eye out for cops or any suspicious looking vehicles but nothing caught his attention and he drove nearly thirty minutes before he found a place to ditch the car. He was careful to wipe it down, remove the plates and check the passenger side for any trace of James’ blood. What little he did find, he cleaned up or simply cut out of the seat with his pocket knife and shoved into his jacket to dispose of later.

He caught a bus, keeping to himself and giving anyone who looked too friendly a dark look until they backed away to find another seat, shoulders hunched and head down. He followed a few out of the way routes to get rid of the plates in some dumpster and then the car seat pieces stained red in an alley.

Nearly two and a half hours had passed by the time the bus pulled up to the closest stop he would be getting to the safe house and he walked the final mile in the rain, hands shoved in his pockets and one fist wrapped around his knife, forcing his thoughts to remain on task and not drift to the blood on his black jeans or who it belonged to.

He succeeded in keeping himself on task until he saw the safe house again and then he needed to go into the nearest alley and hurl up every bit of food in his stomach and then possibly a few organs. The rain beat down, hard and icy, but he was numb enough that he barely felt it, more concerned with the still-frame imagine practically tattooed to the backs of his eyes of James’ still body.

It had happened almost in slow motion; they’d just been talking amongst themselves, he and Sly and Spencer, toward the back of the room while James went over the product with their client. Then the door of the warehouse had been pulled up just enough for a hand-sized oval to roll in and Aleks had recognized the click-clack-click of the metal skin against concrete and then it had gone off.

The next thing he knew, Sly was shaking his arm and pointing and Aleks couldn’t _hear_ for a second and then it all _rushed_ back in and there was screaming and gunfire and smoke and dust in the air from destroyed concrete and - in the middle of it all - was James.

 _Fuck_ , he’d thought James was dead.

He retched at the thought, rain masking the sounds, and pressed his hand to the cold brick to support himself as he leaned over, resting his forehead against his arm and closing his eyes against the dizziness of vomiting.

There had been blood, that was all he could see at first - blood on James’ face, blood on his clothes, blood on the concrete under his head. Then there had been the dust, and possibly heroin, powdering him, covering his clothes and making the red on his face and hair gritty and hard. He hadn’t been breathing, as far as Aleks could tell, and - honestly - Aleks had stopped breathing too. He hadn’t started again until he and Sly had picked their way over to him and he’d seen the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the way his eyes slit open to check them out. He’d been gripping his gun - that _fucker_ , too slow to avoid getting obliterated by a goddamn grenade but strong enough to pull out his Glock - and Aleks had laughed, amused and angry and so _exhaustingly_ relieved that he’d nearly punched James in his stupid _fucking face_.

Spencer had covered them while they helped James out through a side entrance, caught as they were in the middle of a firefight, and then Sly had piled James into a car and shoved the key at Aleks before he rolled up James’ pants to check his ankle and Aleks had just got in and _gone_ without a backwards look the second Sly had shut the door. Sly texted him two minutes later to let him know that he and Spencer were alright and then Seamus had texted him an address and that was where he went without hesitation. He’d pulled a few evasive maneuvers when he could, doubled back three times to throw anyone off if they were trailing, but he’d had to hurry and then he’d needed to _leave_ once James was safe in Seamus’ hands because he was going to do something stupid like _cry_ if he didn’t.

He set in the alley for a long time, the rain weaning for a while and then stopping before starting up again a few minutes later, and he didn’t try to hide himself from it. It felt good, in a way, like it was washing away the thoughts in his head. _Stupid_ , was the biggest - that he’d let James get hurt, that he had risked himself and Sly to drag James out, that he hadn’t thought about saving himself until it was too late. Fuck, who was he kidding? It had been too late for him from the moment he’d agreed to play Mario Kart. Mario Kart meet ups and working late nights together on deals and heist plans, scheduling and shake-downs, hanging out…and James was kind, as fucked up as that was to say about a born killer. He was _kind_ and he cared about Aleks, as far as Aleks could tell, and he made Aleks laugh so hard he cried nearly every time they talked. He clicked with Aleks, in a way that no one else really had before, not even Sly. He made Aleks feel...safe, maybe. Not scared, at the very least, and Aleks was so _sick_ of being so goddamn terrified out of his mind all the time.

Mama Graire had always said that the moment you cared you were dead and, Jesus Christ, Aleks really should have known that she was right about this on top of everything else she’d ever taught him. Suddenly, and for the first time since she’d sent him off to America with Sergiu and Elisa, he _missed_ her. She was a backstabbing bitch, but she’d never hurt _him_ , not until the end there, and she would know what to do. Could tell him how to handle this, how to get his head back above water now that he’d chained himself to the bottom of the fucking pond for James.

She’d be disappointed in him; he knew that and it sent a sharp sting of shame through him even after all this time. All the effort she’d spent with and on him, teaching and tutoring, and this was how he’d almost gone out...protecting some sniper who left the high life to bum it with his friends and made Aleks’ pulse race. Yeah, Mama Graire would have spit in his face if she’d heard of this.

It wasn’t until he was getting tired, the cold lulling him into sleep, that he realized he needed to get up and go back to the safe house before Seamus called him in as missing. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket, it was sopping wet and wouldn’t turn out.

“Of course,” he said out loud, and then shoved it back into his pocket before he began the final stretch of his journey back to the safe house.

Seamus answered the door when he knocked, luckily, and then sighed and shook his head at the state of him.

“Go take a shower, Aleks.” He pointed up the stairs with his thumb, barely loud enough to be heard over the rain, “And then get ready for a reaming. You missed two check-ins, he was turning into such an asshole I almost gave him a sedative.”

“Yes, sir,” He saluted, his lips twitching into what may have been a smile, and then stomped up the stairs. James was sitting on the couch, stitches along the edge of his hairline, ankle propped up and casted in neon green wrappings, and arms crossed. He looked clean, like Seamus had made him shower, too. He pointed to the bathroom wordlessly and Aleks scoffed but did as told and shut the door soundly behind him.

He turned the water on as hot as it would go, until steam filled the bathroom so much that he could barely see. He nearly yelped when he stepped under the water but it wasn’t the _worst_ he’d ever felt and, he couldn’t help but think, he kind of deserved it.

He scrubbed at his skin, got off what the rain hadn’t and then washed his hair as thoroughly as he could. He still felt like he was covered in concrete and drugs, even if the rain had probably got most of that off, and he could still feel the sticky, warm mess that had been James’ blood. The small injuries he’d got during the explosion stung in the heat too, but that almost made him feel better. As if not getting away unscathed made up for the fact that James could have died and Aleks’ hadn’t been fast enough to save him - that Aleks had _wanted_ to save him.

He washed his face last, tried to scrape away whatever it was showing, and didn’t get out of the shower until he felt raw and clean. When he did step out, someone had cracked the door so the steam wasn’t blinding him and left a pile of clean clothes on the floor - a pair of flannel pants a little too big for him and a sweatshirt that may have been Dan’s. He pulled them on and then draped the towel over his head and rubbed vigorously, didn’t stop until his head ached and his hair was damp instead of soaked, and only _then_ did he leave the bathroom.

James was still waiting for him, but he’d moved to the bed across the room and he looked exhausted. Seamus had already fallen asleep on the couch.

“You missed check-ins,” James whispered accusingly, like Aleks would deny it and Aleks didn’t have the energy for that. He thought he should probably eat, but he wasn’t hungry. He just joined James on the bed, shrugging.

“My phone got fucked up in the rain. Cats and dogs out there, man.”  
“Don’t bullshit me, ten minutes longer and we would have sent someone looking for you, you were missing for three hours!”  
“I’m sorry, okay?” Aleks whispered back, drawing his shoulders up, “I had to ditch the car and the plates and clean up, apologies I was doing my fuckin’ job, asshole.”

“Don’t _asshole_ me,” James started angrily and then sucked in a sharp breath and touched his head, closing his eyes and locking his jaw against the pain.

Aleks shut his mouth, lifting his hands as if he was going to touch before he even realized what he was doing. He waited until the pain had seemingly passed before he asked.

“How’s it?”

James waved a hand in a so-so gesture, “I broke my head nice and good but Seamus doesn’t think it’s terrible,” He traced the line of stitches, touch feather-light, “I got four stitches but I ain’t concussed, probably. No more than usual,”

“Hardy har,” Aleks cracked a smile, “And the bum leg?”

“We can’t exactly x-ray the damn thing, but he thinks it’s a nasty sprain.” James shrugged, “He casted it up. I won’t be walkin’ anywhere for a while. I can’t even really put any weight on it.”  
“But you’re fine, otherwise.”

“How’d you say it that one time?” James smirked at him, “Fuckin’ dandy?”

Aleks smiled a little wider but tried not to show his relief, patting James’ knee and standing up, “Just go the fuck to sleep, man. I won’t miss another check-in.”

“And where’re you goin’?” James stared at him, eyes dark and serious, “It’s fuckin’ dangerous out there, Aleksandr, you can’t be leaving every half hour.”

“I’m not!” Aleks pointed at the recliner, “I’m going to fuckin’ bed, man, Seamus isn’t the only tired one here.”

“Don’t be stupid,” James scoffed, “You don’t even have a broke head to excuse it. We’re gonna share the bed.”

Aleks’ tongue withered in his mouth for a moment.

“Dude,” He shook his head, “You need to rest. I, uh, I’m a bed hog. So, you know, for the betterment of both parties, I’m gonna sleep in the chair.”  
“Don’t be childish, Aleks,” James rolled his eyes and then shifted onto one side of the double and patted the free side firmly, “Go to sleep, if you’re so tired. But you’re gonna be a whiny bitch tomorrow if you wake up with backaches.”

“Not all of us are old men with shitty backs, grandpa,” Aleks snipped but, goddamn him, didn’t say no again. He crawled into the bed with an explosive sigh, dragged the sweatshirt off and then pulled the quilt and fluffy comforter up to his chin, laying straight and rigid on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. There was a window behind the bed and it let in some natural light, street lamps casting a dim glow broken by the shadow of the fire escape rails running by it. Next to him, he heard James shifting and then had to stop breathing because James was taking his shirt off too, carefully pulling it over his head and tossing it to the floor before he wrestled with the blankets until he, too, was laying on his back. He radiated heat - they weren’t even touching but James’ skin felt even hotter than the shower Aleks had just taken, burning him alive. He closed his eyes and forced himself to exhale slowly and quietly and then inhale. He was going to fucking _meditate_ until he slept.

James shifted again, brushing against his arm, and his breath hitched.

He wouldn’t be sleeping tonight, then.

-

He knew he was dreaming because he was running and Sergiu was in front of him. He hadn’t seen Sergiu in over a year now, almost two, and he hadn’t had this dream in almost as long.

He heard the cops behind them, chasing them on foot because cars wouldn’t fit in these alleys, and he could make out their yells for them to stop, to drop their guns, that they were under arrest.

He would be sent back to Russia if they caught him - he was a minor, he was in America illegally, his papers were good but they wouldn’t hold up under that much scrutiny, he was _so scared_ and it was a dream, he knew that, but he was _so_ fucking _scared_ of what the bosses back home would do to him once they heard he was back in the country, let alone what the _полиция_ would do.

“Sasha,” Sergiu called and his voice was different but in that way that dreams were different, where he could well have been a three-headed alien and still Aleks would know him as distinctly _Sergiu_ , like how he was speaking both Russian and English at the same time and Aleks couldn't see the problem in that, “This way, left, left, Sasha,”

He disappeared into an alley to their left and Aleks ran after him, his heart racing, his blood rushing, his ears ringing, his lungs refusing to work.

It was a dead end - the building on the right turning into a brick one-story that he couldn’t reach the top of even if he jumped and Aleks nearly punched the wall, fight-or-flight overcoming him at the realization that they’d chosen wrong and there was nowhere left to fly so he had to _fight_ something and the wall was _there_ but then -

“Sasha,” Sergiu called and Aleks looked and he was kneeling, hands cupped together and gun on the ground next to him, “Jump, and then pull me up,”  
Aleks didn’t hesitate. The cops were _coming_ , he could hear them right behind them, they were seconds away - he stepped into Sergiu’s hand and Sergiu propelled him upwards and transferred him to his shoulders and Aleks reached the top of the building and scrambled up, using the wall to finally get over the edge.

“Sasha!” Sergiu called out from the ground and Aleks got up, nearly stumbling as he leaned over the side of the wall. Sergiu reached out an arm and then the first cop turned the corner and it wasn’t Sergiu how the _fuck_ had Aleks thought that was Sergiu -

“James,” He choked, horrified, and hurriedly tried to reach down except his body wouldn’t let him. This was a memory, a dream of something that had already happened. His moves were premeditated now, and they couldn’t be changed. He tried anyway, _had to try_ , but it wasn’t enough.

Another cop turned the corner, James jumped as if Aleks was hesitating because he was too far and called his name again, “Sasha, what the fuck are you doing, help me!”

“I’m sorry,” Aleks shook his head, eyes blurry with tears of fear, “I can’t, I’m sorry, I can’t go back,”  
“ _Aleksandr_ , you fucking bitch!” James snapped, “Don’t you fucking betray me too,”

“Sorry!” Aleks said again and he tried to reach down to _help_ but he couldn’t and then he was turning and _running_ and he heard the cops demand something and James yelled something back and then there were at least five shots and he _knew_ , in his bones, that James was dead.

“James,” he swallowed but couldn’t - oh God, oh God, what had he’d done, what had he _done_ -

“Aleksandr,” Sergiu whispered and Aleks lost his grip on the ladder he’d been sliding down and fell backwards - he fell and fell and fell, and then he hit the ground, his head cracking against the asphalt just like James’ had after the explosion and he was -

“Aleksandr!”

He set up with a gasp, sweating buckets, his chest heaving, his eyes blurry with the tears he’d shed years ago.

“Aleks, Jesus, chill!” James caught his shoulder, hand firm but not rough, and Aleks turned to look at him and, shit, he was _trembling_ but he reached out before he could stop himself and touched James’ face, swallowing hard a few times to get himself back under control.

James flinched at the movement towards his face but didn’t duck away, let Aleks press a sweaty palm to his cheek and his skin was also slick with sweat - the apartment was _baking_ \- and burning up and _alive_.

Aleks dropped his hand, covered his face with his arm and fell back into the bed with a muffled groan, “God _damnit_ , sorry. This was why I wanted to sleep in the chair, you need to be resting, I’m just gonna -”  
“Shut the fuck up,” James nudged him and Aleks fell quiet, “This wasn’t the first fucking nightmare I’ve ever seen, just chill out and take a second to stop shaking the whole bed so we can fuckin’ sleep, man.”

“Sorry,” Aleks said again, lamely, and fell quiet. It was still raining outside, filling the apartment with the echo of hard drops against metal and asphalt, and Aleks tried to use the steady beats to slow his fast breathing, forcing himself to recalibrate. He wasn’t running from the police, at least not literally. He hadn’t just left James behind to die while he escaped. He wasn’t on the cusp of being sent back to Russia and he wasn’t in any immediate danger - Russian or otherwise. He was _safe_.

It wasn’t until he’d finally made himself believe that thought that his hands unclenched, the nails embedded in his palm leaving behind small pinpricks of pain.

James had laid back down, the two of them side by side again, but he wasn’t asleep. Aleks doubted anyone could sleep with _him_ having a mental breakdown right next to them.

“You said my name,” James broke the silence, just as Aleks was beginning to still the tremors moving through his fingers.

“What?” Aleks opened an eye to look at him, licking his dry lips.

“My name,” James repeated, not looking at Aleks in return. He didn’t even have his eyes open. Aleks closed his, too. “You said it, while you were dreaming. You sounded...upset.”

“I dreamed that you died.” Aleks admitted, because there was no hiding it from James. He’d probably already figured it out.

“Shit man, it was just a little explosion. It fucked with you this much?”

Aleks didn’t answer, just turned his head so he wasn’t facing James, hiding his face in the crook of his arm. “Go to bed, James.”

James went quiet, too, and they stayed that way for a long time. Aleks would like to say that he’d been on the verge of sleep when James spoke again, but that would be a lie.

“I didn’t know you’d care that much if I died.”  
“Shut the fuck up,” He said sharply before he’d even realized what he was saying, “Don’t...Don’t fucking say that. Ever.”

“Yeah...yeah, okay,” James said, and his voice was thoughtful. “Sorry.”

“Whatever,” Aleks rolled over, back to James, “Just go to sleep. What kinda fucked up friend keeps someone awake when they’re trying to sleep?”

“Friends,” James repeated, just as thoughtful as before, “The thing is, Aleksandr, that friends don’t usually look at me the way you do.”

Aleks felt his chest constrict. Oh.

“Go the fuck to sleep, James,” Aleks said with feeling, and maybe his voice was a little pleading but he wouldn’t admit that under pain of death.

“Look at me, Aleks,” James poked him and then poked him again when he didn’t respond, “Aleksandr, damn it, look at me,”

Aleks set up properly, looking at James with an annoyed huff, “ _What_ -”

And then James kissed him.

“- _the fuck_!?” He nearly shouted, breaking the kiss, his voice breaking at the end only for James to cover his mouth with his hands.

“Shhhh!” James hissed and then motioned with his head toward the couch, where Seamus was still soundly sleeping. Seamus shifted, but didn’t wake.

“James!” Aleks whisper-yelled, “What the fuck, man!?”

“Are you telling me you _don’t_ want to fuck?” James raised an eyebrow and Aleks...didn’t know what to say to that because he was pretty sure his brain had just short-circuited.

“That’s what I thought.” James continued, smirking, and Aleks felt his whole face beginning to heat up.

“You can’t just -” He started, “You can’t - who even - James, you can’t just kiss me!”

“I just did,” James pointed out, still smirking, and Aleks was too flustered to deal with that.  
“Look,” he tried again but then James was pushing him slowly back to the bed and he was going with it even while he was arguing, because he’d never been able to deny this fuck a thing since they’d met, “This isn’t a good idea,”  
James hummed, moving to hover over him as best he could without moving his foot too much, “I don’t see what you mean.”

He leaned down and Aleks tilted his head back without even thinking about it, his hands flying to James’ shoulders when he began to press scratchy kisses to his neck, “F-First of all, we work together. Second, your ankle is fucking broken and your head has stitches in it and you’re so high on meds right now you probably think you’re a goat. Third, we’re _friends_.”

“We can still be friends,” James assured him, totally ignoring his first two reasons, “Just...friends who fuck sometimes. And a _goat_? What the fuck? Sorry, Aleks, but only one of us is a furry, here.”

“I hate you,” Aleks said with feeling, shivering when James purposefully rubbed his beard against Aleks’ neck, “I hate you _so much_ ,”

“Yeah, but you don’t want me to die,” James teased, one hand moving to trace over Aleks’ ribs and Aleks closed his eyes and wondered if he was going to pass out, “That’s practically a confession of everlasting love,”

“You fuckin’ wish,” Aleks sneered and then sucked in a hard breath when James hand wandered lower, “Okay, okay, we need to - not, James,”

James sighed, but his hand retreated and he pulled away, lifting up so they were looking at each other again. His skin was flushed, eyes dark and heavy lidded, and Aleks wondered what the fuck was keeping him alive because it surely wasn’t air - his lungs had decided to take a vacation.

“I think you’re overthinkin’ this, dude,” James raised an eyebrow and Aleks was almost angry that that was so attractive because he’d never been called _dude_ in bed before. “We’re not, like, getting engaged or, Jesus, _dating_. But _you_ need to relax right now because _you’re_ having some sort of crisis over _caring_ about me or whatever and _I_ want to have sexual intercourse tonight so let’s scratch each other’s backs here, huh?”  
“You’re the literal worst human being alive,” Aleks stared back at him, unimpressed, “Like, you know that Adam and Eve shit where she was like made from his rib or whatever because he was a little bitch who needed a friend to fuck? That’s you, except with Satan. You’re Satan’s rib. You’re Satan’s _soulmate_.”  
“Is that a no?” James grinned, his lips stretching into a fond smile and Aleks’ heart skipped a beat. Whatever James was saying to him, Aleks knew that it wasn’t the full truth. Maybe it wasn’t James secretly hiding intense, unrequited romantic feelings for him - but James would never use him to _scratch an itch_. That just...wasn’t his style, not with people he worked with and definitely not with his friends.

And maybe that was what had Aleks sighing again and shaking his head, reaching up with both hands to frame James’ stupid face and pull him down into another kiss - harder and much more sensual than the random pressing of mouths that their first had been.

James went with it, enthusiastically, and Aleks would be lying if he said that _that_ didn’t make it worth it.

Nothing they did together wasn’t fun and this wasn’t an exception; it was fun - it was fun _ny_ \- and, more than once, they had to stop to contain themselves so they didn’t wake up Seamus. It felt a little skeevy to be doing this so close to their sleeping friend but, honestly, Aleks had done fucking worse in his life. They also had to be careful of James’ head and his foot, and Aleks very forcibly made himself remember not to grab at James’ hair no matter how much he wanted to. They went slow, because they were both sore and exhausted and really shouldn’t have been doing this but, once again, Aleks had never been able to deny James anything.

And maybe it wasn’t _technically_ the best lay he’d ever had but - for a random, secret hookup with his injured co-worker in a stranger’s bed above an unsafe-looking tattoo parlor with another co-worker sleeping not even fifty feet away after one of the most intense nightmares of his life - Aleks had to admit that it may have been his favorite.

-

He woke up for the second time that morning just as fast as he had the first time, but nowhere near as violently. James was snoring close by, the pillow they’d put between them the night before - after they’d silently cleaned up as best they could - keeping them apart, and Seamus was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, bowed over a cup of steaming coffee. It had finally stopped raining and watery sunlight peered in through the window behind the bed, lighting up the place enough that Aleks could kind of see the appeal.

“Morning,” He grunted roughly, getting out of bed and yanking Dan’s sweatshirt back over his head.

“Morning,” Seamus replied blearily and Aleks joined him in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee too and bowing over it to inhale the fumes as if it was the finest wine he’d ever smelled before.

Aleks checked the fridge when he was done with his first cup and, after some quiet-as-possible banging (though not the same quiet-as-possible banging as last night) and a quick Google search on his phone, he knew enough about frying bacon to try it out without Sly standing next to him to offer commentary and needle him about it when it was done.

“That better be bacon,” Were James’ first words, when the smell finally had him waking up.

“Not for you,” Aleks called back, flipping the last few pieces easily and then flinching a little when a grease bubble popped and caught his wrist.

“Fuck off, I’m _injured_ ,” James whined, shuffling into the kitchen with the quilt from the bed wrapped around his shoulders and a crutch that Seamus must have pulled out of somewhere “You should be nicer to me, Aleksandr.”

“Sure,” Aleks agreed, “You can have the grease, James. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thanks so much,” James shot him the bird, “Seamus, make him see reason. Tell him I’m _wounded_ and that the only thing that will help is bacon.”

“You heard the man,” Seamus shrugged, downing his coffee and then pulling a cup of yogurt out of the fridge, “He knows his own body, Aleks.”

“I’m kind of feeling attacked right now,” Aleks tried one of the first pieces and then grabbed a few strips before he finally set the plate on the counter for the other two to pick from, “This is the last time I cook for either of you assholes.”

“You’re so kind, Aleks, however can I thank you?” James swiped a piece and bit into it easily, but his eyes, when Aleks finally met them, were not the eyes of a man hungry for fucking bacon.

Aleks swallowed, the bacon in his mouth suddenly ashy and dry.

“Maybe stop getting blown up,” He replied, hoping Seamus hadn’t noticed the awkward pause between banter.

“I’ll try my best, dear,” James saluted him with the bacon and, while Seamus was focused on his yogurt, Aleks did him a favor and tapped at the side of his own neck in warning.

James smirked and it made Aleks’ face flush warm, but he casually shifted the blanket, hiding the bruise Aleks had left with his teeth on the junction between shoulder and neck before Seamus saw it.

“I gotta head back to base,” Seamus gave James a critical look and James was quick to drop the look he’d been sending Aleks while he did it, “You survived the night so I’m gonna call it and say you’ll be fine in a few weeks, after your head heals up and you stay off that foot. You’re lucky you’ve got such hard bones.”

Aleks choked, coughing on his bacon and turning away from them both to hide the look on his face.

“That’s what my mom always said,” James replied casually, as if Aleks was trying not to die, and Seamus hummed, tossing his yogurt cup into the trashcan and his spoon in the sink - for Aleks to clean up, the bitch.

“Call me if anything changes, Aleks,” He said pointedly, moving to grab his jacket and keys off the coffee table, “And don’t leave the apartment. If something changes, someone will call. If you need anything, call the guy downstairs,” He pointed to the number written on a whiteboard hanging on the fridge, “He’ll do what he can. Hopefully you guys will be home by tomorrow.”  
“Make sure someone feeds my fuckin’ dog,” James frowned, “She’s probably angry that I didn’t come home, I bet she shit all over the house,”

“I’ll send Spoon,” Seamus promised, “We’ll clean up your shit house, don’t fret, my dear.”

He shrugged his jacket on and waved and then disappeared down the stairs with his supplies in a messanger bag that had been hidden under his jacket. Aleks had hoped to wait until they at least heard the lock, but James was moving around the counter before Seamus was even out of the fucking apartment and they were kissing against the fridge before the door even shut.

“You’re so immature,” James laughed against his lips and Aleks didn’t bother defending himself, just caged his face and brought him back into the kiss.

He _did_ hear the lock, because he’d been listening for it but, by the time it echoed up the stairs, he was too lost in James to care.

-

The afternoon breeze coming in from the window behind the bed was a little chilly when he woke up next, but it felt nice against his skin after how hot it was last night so he stretched out and enjoyed the coolness. The other side of the bed was empty but he didn’t worry about it because it was still vaguely warm, just rolled over so he was in the middle and taking up as much space as he wanted.

“You _are_ a bed hog,” James broke the quiet, though he wasn’t nearly as loud as usual. It was just he and Aleks, tucked away where no one would be looking for them on the off chance they gave away their hiding place. Aleks felt like being too loud would break whatever spell of chill had fallen over the studio and could only assume James felt the same way.

“I thought you were just saying that to get out of being near my hot bod ‘cause my sex appeal overwhelmed you.”

“Hate to pop your bubble,” Aleks chuckled, low and sleep-warm, relaxed into the mattress and blankets. James had left the quilt on top of him when he’d gotten up and Aleks ran his fingers blindly over the yarn work, “But I was just scared I’d hit your fucked up foot and you’d cry.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night. Or this morning. In fact, if I remember right, you were saying ‘ _James_!’” James moaned, loud and obnoxious and fake as hell and _totally not at all sounding like Aleks, that fucker,_ and Aleks hurled a pillow at the direction his voice was coming from, muffling laughter into his arm.

“Shut up, motherfucker, you weren’t exactly quiet either!”

James was laughing too hard to say anything back so Aleks finally set up and then held his breath for a few seconds and took in the sight of James, looking clean and healthy and alive, bathed in warm sunlight and laughing.

Shit, Aleks was fucked.

He dropped his eyes before James noticed him staring and swung his legs off the side of the bed, finding his boxers and yanking them on but forgoing anything else so he could stay cool.

When _he_ caught _James_ staring as he walked across the room, he didn’t give James the satisfaction of pretending he didn’t notice.

Safe houses weren’t new to either of them. Aleks had never really had a permanent home in America, hopping from city to city every few months to stay ahead of any people he’d rubbed the wrong way or any authorities that had sniffed too close to him. He and Sly had their apartment, but it was hardly a _home_ in any sense of the word. James, he had picked up from the bits and pieces that he’d dropped, had once been in a normal neighborhood with his mom but had since grown used to hopping from place to place too, though he’d settled enough to carry a dog around with him since he rarely left the city.

And it was that level of comfort with relaxing as best men like them could in strange places that made spending the rest of the day in the studio easy, sitting in the ‘living room’ portion of the big room and watching TV on mute. Aleks exchanged a few texts with Sly, made sure he was alright and assured him that Aleks was okay, too, but he spent most of the day fucking around with James. He’d thought it would be weird, sleeping with co-workers had never turned out well for him before, but they were both already awkward enough that it wasn’t any different from usual.

They didn’t talk about either of their...moments, but Aleks honestly hadn’t expected them too. He and James, they weren’t the talking types; it was one of the things Aleks liked most about James. He never tried to force Aleks into saying anything he didn’t want to say or talking about things that made him uncomfortable.

It was almost relaxing, if Aleks didn’t think about the fact that they were on the run and that’s why they weren’t hanging out in their own apartments. He made dinner, mostly to shut James up when he started loudly complaining about being hungry, but then spent a good five minutes keeping the pan of previously-frozen chicken strips _just_ out of reach and mocking him until he threatened to beat Aleks with a crutch. It was normal, like every other time they’d hung out - even James refusing to stand for any reason, up to and including retrieving the things Aleks was teasing him with.

What was distinctly _not_ normal was the end of the day, long past dark but not quite closing in to midnight, when they fell into bed together again.

Aleks didn’t think he’d mine the change in routine.

-

His phone vibrating against the wood of the end table woke him up. They hadn’t bothered with the pillow since they were alone and they could easily explain it away as forgetfulness if someone _did_ barge in quietly enough to not wake either of them before they reached the top of the stairs and James was still curled around him, burning hot arm slung over his stomach and drooling on his shoulder, the inconsiderate fuck.

James didn’t stir, but between one breath and the next against his neck, Aleks could tell he was awake, too.

Aleks reached out blindly, dislodging James enough that he untangled himself to roll over, dragging quite a bit of the blankets with him, and Aleks cursed at the cool air in the room, blowing in from the still-open window behind the bed. They’d left it up to avoid roasting like the night before but Aleks almost regretted the decision as he finally found his phone and pressed it to his ear with a grumbled, “It’s three in the goddamn morning,”

“You’ve been compromised,” Sly said, voice calm but urgent and Aleks was awake and sitting up, “We just got a tip off, the cops are maybe five minutes away; you need to get out.”

“Pick up?”  
“Spoon’s on his way,” Sly confirmed as Aleks grabbed Dan’s sweatshirt and got up to grab his jeans from the pile of clothes Seamus had left in the corner when he’d stolen them from the bathroom. They were still stained and stiff with blood but he didn’t think much of it, tugging them on quickly and then shoving the rest of them into the hoodie pocket so they wouldn’t be left behind. “ETA ten minutes,”  
“Where’d the leak come from?”

“Let’s just say that the tattoo parlor isn’t gonna be around much longer.” Sly said darkly and Aleks couldn’t help but smile, grim. “Call me if you make it out alive.”  
“Don’t I always?” Aleks joked and then hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket, turning back to James and tossing him the shoe that Seamus hadn’t ripped up to get off James’ fucked foot.

“We’re compromised,” He said, but James had caught the shoe and was putting it on without asking any questions. They’d both put some fucking pants on before they’d slept, luckily, so Aleks cleaned up what little traces of them that they’d left around the place - wiping the counters and the few dishes they’d used down - before shoving his own boots on.

James was just pushing the window to the fire escape open the rest of the way when the telltale reds and blues of a police car rolled up and if one was in the back then there was once in the front, too.

“Shit,” He cursed, trying to think. If the fire escape was out, then they’d have to jump across the alley.

“Did Seamus show you how to get to the roof?” He asked, casting an eye around the room for some sort of door he hadn’t noticed before or something.

“The fire escape,” James picked up the gun Aleks had been carrying yesterday and checked that it was loaded, snapping the clip back into place and pointing it toward the ground, “It’s the only way up from the studio.”  
“ _Fuck_ ,” Aleks resisted the urge to stomp his foot like a kid and instead pressed his back to the wall to peek out of the window. There was the patrol car, lights flashing, but only one officer was in sight, eyes trained on the door of the apartment. The other, Aleks spotted seconds later, disappearing into the alley with her gun drawn.

“I’ll cover you, you get to the roof,” James set the gun down to shove his sleeves up and twist his hair into a knot at the top of his head, face serious. It left a sinking feeling in Aleks’ gut.

“You’re the one who’s gonna have trouble getting up the ladder,” Aleks scoffed, “I’ll cover _you_ ,”

“Aleks, be realistic,” James tapped his leg, “You think I can make it up the stairs with this thing, let alone jump?”

“Not with that attitude,” Aleks leaned over to grab the gun, but James stopped him.

“Aleks,” James sighed, “Your chances of getting away are like, at least twice as good without me,”  
“I don’t need twice as good,” Aleks leaned farther around him but was stopped again, “Stop wasting time, dude, get out!”

“Aleks!” James tried again so Aleks did the fastest thing he could think of to distract. James wasn’t expecting the kiss - payback, motherfucker - but he leaned into it easily after a moment of confusion. His hands went to Aleks’ jaw, guiding him into tilting his head a little and it was Aleks’ idea but he was still almost overwhelmed.

“Okay,” James blinked when Aleks broke the kiss, “I see what you mean about the sudden kisses now, that’s not fuckin’ fair.”

“Great,” Aleks stepped back, gun in hand, “You can yell at me later. Get out of the fuckin’ window, Nova.”

“You’re such a cunt, Immortal.” James gave in with a loud sigh and did as asked, carefully climbing out of the window, bad leg last. He had to leave the crutch behind, it would only hinder them now, and he was just out standing up on the fire escape when there was a loud pounding on the door.

“DPD, open up!” A gruff voice shouted through the wood, just barely making it up the stairs, but Aleks ignored that and followed James out, not bothering to close the window behind them. The metal of the fire escape creaked quietly under them but it was mostly covered by the sound of the cop banging on the front door again and yelling at them to open it.

It was only a short ladder up to the roof so Aleks trained his gun downward in case they looked up and shot James a _hurry the fuck up_ look.

James, still not looking all that happy about it, started to climb. He was as fast as he could go, trying to both pull himself up without putting too much weight on his foot and also be quiet but he managed to get high enough that Aleks could follow him out of the studio. They used the commotion and noise of two of the cops breaking the door in while another two stayed watching the alley to get him to the top and onto the roof, disappearing over the edge just as they heard the them reach the top of the stairs.

Aleks kept the gun trained on the fire escape but turned his attention to James, forcing himself to stay calm. They weren’t going to be caught; he was fine, he wasn’t a stupid kid anymore. He could get out of this.

He looked to either side of the building, the alley on the right and the high wall on the left.

They were fucked both ways.

“You’re sure you can’t make that jump?” He whispered, voice low so he wasn’t overheard.

“Aleks,” James said tightly, “I don’t even think I can walk to the side right now,” he admitted.

Aleks finally looked at him, the street lights throwing his shadow across the room and glistening against the sweat on his face, highlighting the tightness of his eyes and the clenched jaw. The stitches on his head didn’t stand out in the dimness, but Aleks was almost too aware of them, of the fact that James was not at the top of his game and, in fact, Aleks hadn’t been doing much to help him rest and recover. Maybe they should have waited until James could fucking exert himself without getting dark spots in his vision and breaking out into a cold sweat.

“Come on,” Aleks made the decision, looping James’ arm around his shoulders, “I’m gonna boost you up the wall. You hide there, I’ll lead them across the alley.”

“Are you insane?” James tried to stop moving but Aleks kept dragging him along the roof until he went along again, “Don’t be an idiot, you couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn when you’re running,”

“What do you want me to do, James?” Aleks snapped, “This is what we’ve got.”

“You need to get out of here, Aleksandr,” James snapped back just as hard, “ _You_ go up the wall, they can arrest me and you guys can stage an intervention or something, get me outta jail before they transfer me.”

“We both know that if you go into that building, you aren’t coming out,” Aleks stopped at the wall, helping James lean against it so he could eyeball it and see how high it was. The wall cast a dark, long shadow, hiding the both of them well enough for the moment. It was about a story taller than the parlor, probably the original building and the studio-slash-tattoo place was an addition, but it wasn’t the tallest thing he’d ever scaled.

“This isn’t that far up,” He said, not bothering to look over his shoulder to check for incoming cops. James wouldn’t miss. “Here,” he kneeled down, “Come on, I saw this in a movie once.”  
“Immortal, for fuck’s sake, I’m not gonna let you run off while I hide like a coward,”

“James,” Aleks snapped, his fingers beginning to tremble as the fear in his stomach started to climb up his throat, “The longer we fight about this, the less time I have to fucking run so _get up there_ ,”

“I can’t get up there on my own, Jesus Christ, you stupid fuck!” James pointed at his leg, “If you want me up there, then you’re gonna have to get up there first!”

He knelt instead, stapling his fingers together for Aleks and Aleks, feeling a sick wave of déjà vu, wedged his foot into his hand and went with it when he pushed up, getting his hands over the edge and pulling himself up as hard as he could. The clang of boots on the fire escape echoed, much less stealthy than they had been and Aleks tumbled over the edge, nearly knocking his head against the concrete of the new roof but catching himself just in time to avoid a bloody nose.

“DPD! Come out with your hands up!” A voice echoed through the darkness of the rooftops, no one peeking over the edge of the building yet. It was a young voice, the poor fucker, and Aleks looked over the edge to see James casually pointing his gun towards where the voice had come from, looking up at Aleks.

“Get outta here,” He hissed and, for just a second, Aleks almost did.

“I’m not leaving you,” He hissed back when he’d got control of the fear again, reaching an arm out. James didn’t take it.

“Immortal, _go_ ,” James motioned to the fire escape, “There’s no way I’ll get up there in time, you need to get out,”  
“Nova,” Aleks thought, tried to figure out a way to get him _going_ , “If you don’t get your ass up here then I’m coming back down and we’re _both_ dead,”  
“Aleks, I’ve never let someone die when they were with me before and it’s not gonna happen now, get the fuck out of here!”

“James!” Aleks nearly punched the wall, his voice cracking and there it was, the terror that had been welling up in him breaking free, “I don’t _want_ to die, but I _can’t_ leave you here so just _grab my hand_ ,”

James, after a second, cursed and balanced on the tiptoe of his good foot to hand up the gun. Aleks took it, set it aside, and then reached back down for him. When James grabbed it, Aleks closed his eyes in relief and breathed out, forced the fear back down and focused.

“Stop!” the voice yelled and Aleks saw a head pop up over the edge of the wall, a gun appearing soon after. He pulled harder.

“Climb, climb, shit, I’ve got you,” He grunted, lifting with one hand and using the other to grab James’ arm, pulling with all his might. James was bigger, taller, and didn’t have nearly as much upper body strength as would have been ideal in this situation, but he used his good leg to hoist himself on the wall and grabbed at the edges of the roof, freeing up Aleks’ hands to continue to grab at him.

“Stop, or I’ll shoot!” The cop yelled and, annoyed, Aleks used one hand to grab the gun and take a pot shot at him. There wasn’t a suppressor on this one since it was Aleks’ and Aleks had never bothered with quietly killing someone with a gun and the shot echoed loud - nearly deafening, and the recoil jerked his aim up again. It did what he needed it to though, and the cop disappeared back down with a yell so he could drop the gun and catch James before he tipped right the fuck back down.

“You _suck_ at shooting,” James hissed at him and Aleks couldn’t help but smile, finally yanking him hard enough that he was able to make it, tumbling over and on top of Aleks with no grace whatsoever.

“Maybe,” Aleks laughed, his chest swelling, giddy with relief, “But you’re up here.”

“I know where you are,” The cop shouted, “We’ve got back up on the way, stand up with your hands showing and this doesn’t have to get violent!”

“Fuck, as nice as it is to have you under me,” James groaned, rolling off of him to grab the gun and peek over the edge of the roof. He shot once, barely even pausing to aim, and there was a dull thud not even a second after the shot echoed.

“Officer down! Suspects on the run!” another cop yelled, but Aleks barely noticed because his mouth had gone dry. It wasn’t the _killing people_ thing, because he was fucked up but he wasn’t _that_ fucked up, but the ease with which James handled his chosen weapons was...nice.

James checked the clip again, four left, and shot Aleks a bland look, “What are you staring at, asshole? He looked like he was ten, it wasn’t that impressive. Let’s go.”  
“Yeah,” Aleks agreed dumbly, and then started crawling. He found the fire escape easily enough, luckily on the other side of the building, and motioned for James to go first, accepting the gun when James did it without question. At least James had finally realized that Aleks was one hundred percent serious about going together - be it to their escape or to the station.

His phone started to vibrate half way down, sirens in the distance telling him that things were going to get back very soon for the both of them if they didn’t get the fuck out of there, and he answered it without even looking at the name.

“Where are you?”  
“Coming the opposite way in from the cops,” Spoon answered, “You close by?”  
“Next building on the left, coming down the escape. We’ve got more pigs coming,”

“I’m here,” Spoon said, and a taxi slowed to a stop just in sight of Aleks, probably just out of sight of the cops, “I don’t see you,”  
“Don’t move. We’ll be there in a minute,” Aleks hung up without waiting for an answer and then pointed the taxi out to James and sped up the pace. James, to his benefit, did his best to match his speed and didn’t complain once. Aleks found that a quiet James was not one that he liked. He would have preferred if James hadn’t shut up the whole way down if he had to choose between the two.

But they did make it down, and he handed the gun over so he could support James as they walked, practically dragging him to the taxi and pulled open the back door. James slid inside, panting, and Aleks piled in after him, slamming the door and grabbing Spoon’s shoulder, “Jesus, that was close. Thanks for coming.”

“Whatever,” Spoon scoffed, but he smiled back in the rear-view and James shot him a thumbs up. Aleks collapsed into the back room, barely working up the energy to wince when James socked him in the arm.

“You fuck!” James glared at him, “You could have fuckin’ died!”

“How?” He opened one eye, raising an eyebrow and grinning. The adrenaline surged through him - he was alive and still safe and so was James. Yesterday’s nightmare finally shook loose from his shoulders. The terror of it had paled in comparison to the real thing, but he’d saved James anyway.

Sure, Mama Graire may have spit on him but they were _both fucking alive_. _He’d_ done that.

“They could have shot you,” James started listing and he was in for a lecture but James was _there_ to lecture him, in pain and pissed as hell and reaming Aleks out in a distinctly less sexual way than he would have preferred honestly, but he was alive to do it and that made the lecture worth it.

-

It wasn’t that they were sleeping together or because Aleks had some sort of... _feelings_ for him. Maybe those things played into it, but it wasn’t because they were fucking that Aleks suddenly decided to risk his life. He would have done the same thing even if they hadn’t been, he was sure, when he thought about it.

And it wasn’t like they slept together _all the time_. Hell, after they left the studio they’d basically turned into their sex den, they were barely alone together for nearly three months. Aleks didn’t mind it, even if knowing what it was like was like the ultimate tease every time he saw James looking at him like he was thinking the same thing. It didn’t change their working relationship, or their personal one, either, not really.

Aleks, if he was forced to describe it, would have said it felt like a natural progression, when he thought about it. Just something that was...them.

But, the risking himself for James thing...that was separate. He had no idea what the fuck that was about, but the nightmare stuck with him, was in his thoughts whenever they went on jobs even if it didn’t hold the same dread that it had the first night he’d had it.

He’d got hurt protecting other people before, Sly mostly, and he’d taken a knife wound for Jordan on a job once, but James was...different. He always wanted to be the exception, the fucking dick, and he _was_ \- because Aleks protected Sly because Sly was like his brother, and he protected Jordan because that was his job and Jordan was his friend, but he protected James because...the thought of James being hurt, when _Aleks_ could have helped, made him sick to his core.

So, on a run months later, when James had healed and Aleks had put the conscious memory of Sergiu and the betrayal behind him because he didn’t want that to control his life, and the two of them and Kevin were sent into what turned out to be a trap, he didn’t hesitate to do it again.

Yeah, the bullet hurt like nothing he could ever describe and his lungs really did stop working for a bit and James’ yelling wasn’t pleasant - but it was _leagues_ better than if James was quiet.

 

 


End file.
